Thanks to the Legislature and Gov. Rick Perry, no one in public schools will face any legal risks for saying "Merry Christmas." That's reassuring, but did anyone ever face any legal risks for uttering those words?

Perry should have copied the actions of a fellow governor, Jay Nixon of Missouri. Nixon recently vetoed a law that would have banned the use of foreign doctrine such as sharia law in Missouri courts. His reason, of course, was that no one was trying to impose things like sharia law on Missourians, so the "protection" had no purpose.

This is not just a theoretical point. Perry recently added highway funding to the agenda for the special session. That's a basic responsibility of the Legislature, but it didn't get done in the regular session.

If lawmakers had spent less time on bills like protecting "Merry Christmas," they might have been able to take care of core duties like keeping our highways safe.